Obama Asks Congress to Help HomeownersPresident Barack Obama asked Congress to pass his proposal to ease mortgage refinancing for homeowners. He said that he sent Congress his plan last February that would give every homeowner the chance to save up to $3,000 each year on their mortgages via refinancing at lower rates. Once they have their mortgages refinanced, the homeowners can have more spending power.

According to a housing market report Wednesday, home prices slowly recovered in the United States. The president said that the country is moving in the right direction but they are not there yet. There are still millions of Americans who can’t pay their mortgages, even at low rates. This is bad news for the economy and President Obama’s re-election bid.

President Obama asked Congress to support his refinancing plan, which he said has the approval of independent, nonpartisan economists and leaders from the housing industry. He added that the Republicans in Congress don’t like to bring it to the floor. It has already been seven months since he gave the plan and still, no action from Congress. The president wants Congress to act on it as soon as possible and don’t wait until after the election in November.

The president criticized Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who he said thinks that the only option for homeowners is to stand by and hope that the market hits bottom. They are set to face off in the first of three presidential debates Wednesday.

Romney on the other hand criticized President Obama on his handling of the Middle East crisis. HE said the president didn’t do enough after violence escalated in anti-American protests overseas. During the Republicans’ weekly address, Vernon Parker, Arizona congressional candidate, focused on the state of the economy. He said that employers want to hire and workers want to work but the government doesn’t want to get out of the middle.